Gardening Tips: Improving Your Garden Soil

It would be so nice if you could just pick a spot for your garden and stick all the plants there you like and they would just grow and flourish. Unfortunately, there is more to gardening than that. The foundation of your garden is your soil, and if the soil conditions are not adequate your plants will all suffer. Water absorption, nutrient levels, pH levels and drainage of your soil all play a vital role in the health of your plants. Fortunately if your soil is less than ideal, there are many ways to amend the soil to attain the conditions your plants desire! I'll go through some soil problems and easy ways to solve them!

If you have very heavy, clay like soil your plants will not thrive. Clay is so thick that water cannot drain and your plant's roots cannot grow. The root system of your plants provides all the moisture and nutrients needed for growth. If the roots suffer, the plants suffer. One easy way to modify your heavy soil is to add sand. The sand will mix with the clay and help break up the ground. Peat moss, compost and manure can also be mixed in with the soil to loosen the clay and maximize nutrient and water absorption for your plants.

On the other side, if your soil is very sandy your plants will also suffer. Sandy soils are very dry and do not provide the necessary nutrients your plants need for growth. There are certain plants that are designed to grow in deserts and other very dry soils, but many plants just cannot survive in these harsh conditions. The best way to alter your sandy soil is to mix top soil throughout your garden. Horse manure is also another great ingredient to add to your sandy soil. Both horse manure and top soil are full of nutrients your plants need and will help to retain moisture. Of course, you can always add compost and peat moss to help the garden grow!

Poor drainage is also a problem for many gardens. Every yard is not perfectly shaped and therefore will have low areas throughout. If you have areas that retain water in your garden, try building the soil up with peat moss. Peat moss is a great amendment because it retains water well, but drains excellently. Peat moss is collected from bogs and shredded for your garden use.

Some plants are also very sensitive to the acid/alkaline level of your soil. Blueberries, evergreen shrubs, azaleas, and hydrangeas are just a few examples. These plants love acid and thrive in acid soils. To attain a more acidic pH level of your soil you can simply add sulfur to the soil. If you would like a more alkaline pH level, you can simply add lime to the soil. Testing the pH level of your soil can be done very easily through a kit you can purchase at any garden center.

Every soil has nutrients, but after many years of gardening the plants may have absorbed much of the nutrients that were naturally occurring in the area. This is why fertilizing your soil is very important. There are so many fertilizers on the shelves at any garden department or center. While choosing a fertilizer can be overwhelming, it is much simpler than you think. As long as you are growing basic plants and grass, you can just use an all-purpose fertilizer. The bag will have specific application directions that you will want to read and follow. For your vegetable garden, the best fertilizer is good old horse manure!

If you think your soil has problems, try these tips to improve the growing conditions throughout your landscape and garden. You will see improvements all around in the years to come. Remember that moisture, drainage and nutrients are the key to having a successful garden!